Crumbling
by Biisaiyowaq
Summary: After a massive earthquake, more than buildings are falling apart. Trapped in Casper with his classmates, will Danny's secret remain intact? Or will it too come crumbling down? Review!
1. The 'Quake

The school shook, books tumbled off shelves, people were knocked off their feet, and desks slid across the linoleum. Wide frightened eyes of all colors watched as the building they were in began to crumble. Someone yelled; a horrible, distraught screech that snapped everyone out of their frozen, terrified states. Other voices joined in and a cacophony of noise rose, people yelling, screaming, blubbering, and praying. As one, they stampeded out of the room in a desperate race for safety. The pounding of sneakers on the floor almost overran the shrieks. They flooded into the hallways like water and headed for any exits in sight. The walls began to buckle and doors distorted, cracking and straining to stay in one piece. Hinges popped off and lockers groaned in protest, their backs detaching from the walls and tipping over with loud crashes onto the floors. At last, everyone seemed to be out. People watched as Casper High slowly fell apart, and then someone fainted. There was a face in one of the windows on the third floor. A face soon joined by others, fists could be seen pounding and faint voices could be heard, yelling for someone to save them. But the town was in shambles and there was no one.

Inside the classroom, the students saw what was happening and their voices died out. They turned from the windows, their young faces grim. Plaster floated down little by little on their hair and clothes, turning them white and ghost-like. Tears washed small rivers down many of the faces and choked sobs escaped their throats. Many had already accepted their fate, and slumped listlessly against each other. Someone stood up, feminine body and dark skin still identifiable under the plaster snow. Her green eyes surveyed the mass of bodies in front of her as she spoke,

"Oh shut up!" Everyone quieted and turned to look at her, "Good, now put yourselves together and get up!" The students slowly picked themselves off the swaying floor and shuffled together in the center of the room. "We need to get out guys," The girl began, but was cut off by mournful wails and snorts, "Quiet!" Some mutterings continued, but for the most part they stayed silent, "Okay, as I was saying, we need to get out. Dash, Kwan, we need you." Two large boys detached themselves from the group and slunk forward. "I need you to try and open the door." She said, pointing to the bent and creaking piece of wood that blocked their exit. One of them began speaking,

"But we already tried remember! It hardly budged!"

"Yes, but there were other people blocking the hallways and no doubt pushing against the door, so try to open it. Now." The two breathed deeply and prepared to ram the door. A small yelp drew the attention of the group to a slender girl whose shaking hand pointed to the window, where a crack was snaking its way across the clear surface. "Hurry up! We don't have much time before the windows shatter and someone gets hurt!" The boys ran for the door, shoulders first, in a desperate attempt to break it and let them escape. A large thump sounded out and larger bits of plaster rained down. The boys groaned, their shoulders bruised and sore; the door was barely dented. "Try harder!" A hint of panic was creeping its way into the girl's voice.

"We can't!' One of the boys exploded, "That was our best try! Do you think we _want_ to die?" In the midst of the arguing, someone saw the crack reach the middle of the window pane and start to spider outwards.

"Stop." Came a voice so full of authority that even the arguing teenagers halted. The group looked around for the speaker, but no one stepped forward. The girl breathed deeply and was about to begin again when a small voice spoke out,

"Let me try." The group parted, and left a small, gangly boy standing alone in the center of the room. His shoulders were hunched and his eyed were downcast.

"_Fenton_?" One of the boys guffawed loudly, "What makes you think _you_ can do it if the both of us can't? You can't even stand up to me!" Nervous giggles rippled around the group before quieting.

"I said, let me try." Before the girl could speak, the large boy spoke again,

"You know what? Go ahead! I need a good laugh before I die!"

"_Dashiel Baxter_!" The girl advanced upon him with frightening fury, "We are not going to die you idiot! How could you even think that!" Dash averted his eyes and looked to the smaller boy,

"Well do it already Fenton!" The Fenton boy strode forward quietly, when he reached the door, his shoulders spread wide and his head came up. He paused and turned to look at the frightened teenagers before him.

"Ha! I knew he couldn't do it! He was just-"

"Be quiet Dash." Fenton looked Dash squarely in the eyes from across the room and the large boy unconsciously shrank back at the resounding order. The mysterious speaker had been found. 'Fenton' began again, "It's just…I don't know if I want to do this." Gasps and mutterings broke out and the girl walked forward,

"Why wouldn't you want to do it?" She asked softly,

"…Nothing." Came the curt reply. And with that, he turned to the door again and grabbed it by the doorknob.

"As if _that_'ll work Fenton!" The grip on the doorknob tightened, and without warning, his arm pulled back and the mangled piece of metal was ripped from the door. 'Fenton' dropped it and fell to the ground with a loud clunk. More gasps went through the audience when they saw it was bent into the shape of a hand. It looked like a child had crushed a piece of Play Dough in its palm.

"How?…" Dash's mouth was open and he resembled a fish. 'Fenton' stuck one of his hands into the empty space where the doorknob had been and pulled again, with a pained groan, the door broke free of the hinges and disfigured doorframe. Still holding the door in one hand, the boy leaned it against one of the slowly crumpling walls and then dropped his hands to his sides, not looking at the gaping people behind him.

"Let's go. The door's open, what're you waiting for?" Whispered 'Fenton', before slinking into the plaster-filled hallway and disappearing from sight.

* * *

Hmmm….I might continue this. Might not. Depends on what people think of it…


	2. Maneuvering the Ruins

Well, I got a bunch (to me) of reviews, although the one that most likely got me going on this again was from SaiSaiLove, who bounced ideas back and forth with me until I finally (kind of) got my ideas and plans sorted out enough to actually do something with, thank you everyone who's reviewed on this and made me smile, I love you all! :D **- I just realized I wrote this like last summer and forgot to post it, haha, so umm...sorry? - **

The room continued to stay in stunned silence until the building swayed again, the floor giving a large shudder that made a few people stumble. Then, as if snapped out of a trance, the students surged forward, mobbing together at the door in a writhing, undulating mass of terrified human beings. People cried out as elbows and knees struck them, but kept pushing forward, trying to all exit at once. Thirty-four bodies all straining for freedom, trying to keep themselves alive. After what seemed forever, all were finally out into the hallway, grouped fearfully together, coughing and wheezing as they tried to breathe through the dust-filled air and looked around them at the shambles of their school. Finally out of the classroom, they could see the damage the earthquake had wrought on their school. Lockers had tumbled over, wires hung from the ceiling, walls had immense cracks running throughout them, doors had crumpled...it was a wonder they were alive. Eventually though, they seemed to realize that if they wanted to keep on living, they would have to actually _move _and find a way to get out of the quickly deteriorating building. A tentative feminine voice finally sounded out as they began climbing through the wreckage,

"W-where is he?" The group paused for a moment, looking around for their liberator. Several people thought they saw a vaguely human shape around the same size as him through the thickly falling dust only to look closer and find that he was truly gone. Their leader, the dark-skinned green-eyed girl once again took the mantle and became the trailblazer of the terrified group. Squeezing her way through the debris and testing the ground before her, she led her fellow students slowly through the chaos of destruction. The building around them creaked and groaned ominously, forcing them to continue their slow, halting attempt to escape. After a while, the group managed to get itself into a relatively clear space, too afraid to take any chances in even the cleanest of classrooms. Motioning for the people around her to get closer, the dark-skinned girl stood on a pile of something or other on the floor to give herself some extra height as she addressed the group.

"Guys," she couched through the clogged air, "We need to get out of here as soon as possible. This building's gonna give soon. Peering at one of the doors nearby, she continued, "Right now we're by Mr. Falluca's room, the stairs to the second floor should be at the other end of the hall, then we'll be one step closer to freedom and safety. If we stay together and help any stragglers or injured people, we should be able to escape with minimal damage to anyone. Dash, Kw-" Dash spoke up forcefully, interrupting her to voice his opinions,

"What are we supposed to do Valerie?" He challenged, "We couldn't even get that stupid door open! How are we supposed to take care of ourselves let alone a bunch of nerds! We, we need," He gulped visibly, "We need...Fenton if we want even the slightest chance of escape. You saw what he did to that door, alone we're not gonna make it and you know I-" A slap sounded out as Valerie's hand met his cheek, ending his demoralizing tirade,

"Shut _up_ Dash, just shut up. As much help as having Fenton here would be, he's gone. And we have to deal with it. He would be a great deal of help, but we can manage ourselves! I'm not even surprised he left! Have any of you _ever_ been kind to him? Even tried being friendly? I know I haven't. Why should he help us? If he did we'd all owe him our lives. But he's not here, and unless you just want to sit down and," Faltering for a moment, Valerie continued, "And die, need to stop acting like a bunch of little kids and step up to the challenges! Dash, Kwan, I need you two behind the group to help the injured or anyone lagging behind. Star, Paulina, I need you two up front with me. Your agility will really help right now. Mikey, you and...Nathan," The over-freckled frizzy-haired red-headed boy smiled at having his name called by the beautiful girl. Doing her best to fight back a grimace, she went on, "Yeah, uh, you two stay behind Paulina, Star, and me to check for any structural damage that might be too bad. I'm guessing of anyone here would be able to spot it it'd be you two. The rest, keep in the middle. Let's go!" And with that, Valerie jumped off her perch and continued on her way through the destroyed building followed closely by a frightened Paulina and Star.


End file.
